niedziela, 22 września 2013

MVP framework, new features

Introduction
I added several enhancements to the MVP Jython framework. Source code is available here, sample application developed for Google App Engine can be launched using this web URL.New types of main menu
So far only left side list of button has been available. Two new types of main menus have been added: "Up" menu and stack menu. "Up" menu is nothing more then image at the top status bar which expands after clicking giving a list of choices. Stack menu is an implementation of GWT StackPanel. "Up" menu can coexist with tab menu and stack menu but stack menu and tab menu excludes each otther. An example of stack menu is available here. More technical description.
"Up" menu

Stack menu

Image column
Image column contains icon or list of icons instead of text or number. Image list can be static or dynamic. In the second case a JavaScript code is executed to determine the list of images displayed depending on the row content. More detailed description. Icons plays also a role of buttons. After user clicks the icon a Jython server side action is raised. This way it is possible to implement an action depending on the row content and which icon has been clicked.

A running example is available here. Click "up" menu -> "List with icon". The up arrow is displayed for positive number and down arror for negative number. Left and right arrow is displayed depending if number is odd or even.Different type for column and footer
As a default the footer type (and other properties like align and decimal position) are copied from column type. But it is possible to change this behavior.

A running example is available here. "Status" -> "List footer". The footer is under string column but the footer content is a number. Also align schema is different. More detailed description is available here.Other changes

Dynamically modify the content of the status bar. The the status bar content can be customized depending on the context. More detailed description is available here. Running example can be launched. "Status" - > "Status text".

Load tab panel page on demand. An action is raised after clicking the page header. This way the tab panel page can be modified dynamically. More detailed description.

XML usage. XML format is often connected with love-hate relationship. But it is very convenient if data schema is not stable or can be changed. It is also very convenient if we want to pack a lot information in one entry without creating a table with tens or hundreds of columns. So I added some automation for packing and unpacking forms using XML file. More information is available here. A running example (although nothing spectacular is visible) can be launched here. Click on "Dialog base xml".